DUSHANBE, August 23. /TASS/. Member-state leaders of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) concurred on ramping up cooperation due to the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan during an emergency session by the CSTO Collective Security Council held via video conference on Monday, the press service of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon reported following the meeting.

"During the session, the member states noted with concern the worsened situation in Afghanistan. <...> Given the increasing presence of combatants from international terrorist organizations in Afghanistan who use this country as a fallback site to create strongholds for the further activity and their expansion, the CSTO member states have agreed to ramp up efforts to foster cooperation in order to counteract the challenges and threats emanating from the territory of Afghanistan," the statement said.

The Tajik president’s press service added that the CSTO’s member-state leaders also agreed to accelerate work on approving a special intergovernmental program on fortifying sections of the Tajik-Afghan border.

The summit’s participants highlighted the importance of restoring the state’s authority in Afghanistan through inclusive peaceful dialogue taking into account the interests of all civil, political, ethnic and religious groups, and noted that the political regime in Afghanistan should be based on the free expression of the will of the entire Afghan people.

The session of the Collective Security Council was chaired by President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, and the decision to hold it was due to the recent events in Afghanistan. Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev attended the meeting as a guest.

The CSTO is an international organization on security issues which includes Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. This year Tajikistan is chairing the group.

After the Biden administration had announced the end of Washington’s 20-year-long military operation in Afghanistan and the launch of its troop pullout, the Taliban (outlawed in Russia) embarked on an offensive against Afghan government forces.

On August 15, Taliban fighters swept into Kabul without encountering any resistance, and gained full control over the Afghan capital within a few hours. Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani said he had stepped down to prevent any bloodshed and subsequently fled the country. Vice President Amrullah Saleh announced that, in the absence of the head of state, the constitution empowered him to become the caretaker president and urged the Afghan people to join the resistance against the Taliban radical movement. At present, Western nations are evacuating their citizens and embassy staff.